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63
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
Scarlet Fever and Schools.
The next Table shows the number of cases of Scarlet Fever
for each month of the year among children in attendance at
elementary and other schools for each sub-district, also the
number for the whole Borough, the number of cases among persons
not at school, the number attending schools outside the Borough,
as well as the number of cases in which, as far as could be ascertained,
the diagnosis of Scarlet Fever was incorrect.
Of the total number of cases, viz.:—869, the diagnosis was
incorrect in 50 or 57 per cent.; 488 or 56.2 per cent, were in
attendance at schools in the Borough; 23 or 2.6 per cent, attended
schools outside the Borough; while 308 or 35.5 per cent, did not
attend school, being either above or under school age.
The percentage of children attending school was as follows:
in Clapham, 101 out of 170, or 59 per cent.; in Putney,
22 out of 49, or 45 per cent.; in Streatham, 118 out of 219, or
54 per cent.; in Tooting, 69 out of 99, or 68 per cent.; and in
Wandsworth, 178 out of 306, or 58 per cent.
The percentage of cases in the Borough in attendance at school
was higher than in 1910, while in the sub-districts the percentage
was higher in all with the exception of Streatham.
The percentage in Tooting is calculated after deduction of
the cases notified in Institutions in that sub-district.
In Clapham the schools chiefly affected were Wirtemberg
Street, in which 17 cases occurred, Cavendish Road with 14 cases,
and Bonneville Road with 12 cases.
Ten of the cases in Wirtemberg Street occurred in October.
Considerable difficulty was experienced in ascertaining the
cause of these cases, and it was not until the 14th of the month
that a mild case was discovered, which in all probability was the
cause of several of the other cases.
This child had suffered from a slight sore throat about the 20th
September, but it was not till desquamation was definite, about the14th
October, that a diagnosis could be made.